"Keep an open mind – but not so open that your brain falls out" -unknown

"Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence." -- Carl Sagan

"What can be asserted without evidence can also be dismissed without evidence." -- Christopher Hitchens

What is a logical fallacy? All arguments have the same basic structure: A therefore B. They begin with one or more premises (A), which is a fact or assumption upon which the argument is based. They then apply a logical principle (therefore) to arrive at a conclusion (B). An example of a logical principle is that of equivalence. For example, if you begin with the premises that A=B and B=C, you can apply the logical principle of equivalence to conclude that A=C. A logical fallacy is a false or incorrect logical principle. An argument that is based upon a logical fallacy is therefore not valid. It is important to note that if the logic of an argument is valid then the conclusion must also be valid, which means that if the premises are all true then the conclusion must also be true. Valid logic applied to one or more false premises, however, leads to an invalid argument. Also, if an argument is not valid the conclusion may, by chance, still be true. For a more thorough discussion of logical fallacies and how to structure a logical argument, see the New England Skeptical Society's article, How To Argue.

"No skeptic, to my knowledge, ever made a major scientific discovery or advanced the welfare of others."

"The most exciting phrase to hear in science, the one that heralds the most discoveries, is not "Eureka!" (I found it!) but That's funny..." -Isaac Asimov

The scientific world view is full of awe and wonder. Understanding how truly awesome the universe is – in its elegant complexity, its staggering beauty, and the many intricate systems of which it is comprised – gives a profound feeling of connectedness and sparks the imagination. And it has the advantage of being real. -Steven Novella

The glory which is built upon a lie soon becomes a most unpleasant incumbrance. How easy it is to make people believe a lie, and how hard it is to undo that work again.— Mark Twain

Obama also didn't cause a political incident with China by recognizing Taiwan, before he even took office. Obama released his tax returns and put his money into a blind trust, the same as every other president has done in recent history. Obama didn't have the head of his business empire, his daughter, sitting in on meetings with foreign leaders.

Obama didn't appoint someone as insane as the executive chair of freaking Breitbart News as his chief strategist and senior council. Obama didn't appoint a climate-change denialist as the head of the EPA.

Obama didn't explicitly state that the president is allowed to have conflicts of interests and signal in every way that he's going to monetize the presidency.

Obama was a stabilizing force, to the point that as soon as he became president-elect, he went along with George W. Bush on official diplomatic trips. Leaders of the world wanted to talk to him, rather than the actual sitting president. He's a competent, respectable statesman, and he's going to make a fantastic diplomat, as a former president.

Trump is an incompetent loose-cannon, the likes of which we've never seen before in the presidency.

So no, the press didn't obsess with every little insane thing that Obama did as president-elect, because he didn't do 5 insane things every weekday. And Trump's skin is orange, not his hair. Orange hair isn't as weird.

And are you REALLY trying to tell me that people had no problem with Obama's skin color? Seriously? Please tell me I'm reading that wrong.

I don't recall 5 Things Obama Did This Week before he took office. It seems nobody was as obsessed with him. Oh, I forgot. He wasn't a billionaire celebrity with orange hair and maybe a few people didn't like his color.

[sigh] In any of this, should we mention that the current "Air Force One" aircraft are over 20 years old and are quickly becoming more expensive to maintain than new aircraft would be to build AND maintain?

Re Trump and Boeing, I heard on a later news show:
1) a Boeing officer offered a lower cost in exchange for taking some stuff off the plane's design, and
2) the share price later recovered.
In his tweet, Trump made a spectacle of doing what purchasing department people regularly do: haggle.
Re Trump's lies, if he tells me he has to pee, I won't believe until I see him peeing.

When Trump got wind of CEO Dennis Muilenburg's mild suggestion that trade is important to his company and others, Trump immediately retaliated, tweeting: "Boeing is building a brand new 747 Air Force One for future presidents, but costs are out of control, more than $4 billion. Cancel order!"

That caused the shares to plummet. Never mind that Boeing doesn’t even have a $4 billion order to make Air Force One planes. It's a post-factual world, remember. [emphasis mine]